The PA Budget cutters should read this first before cutting the education budget.

Dear Legislator, 


I have been a distance-learning educator for over ten years. During this time, I have seen many students who have been genuinely helped by this form of education. 
One thing that makes our learning platform different is access to quick responses from a teacher. Our students benefit most from this individual attention that we are able to reassure them with. They use the Open Source Moodle platform, and we communicate with many of them each day.  Our Moodle Platform is equipped with an instant messenger to help students at formative times when they begin to struggle. This access to a learning coach will be greatly diminished by a funding cut. 
I meet with students in groups every day in a multi-media classroom. My students have formed life long friendship with other students through this setting as well as looking to their teachers as mentors. I have been able to conduct these classroom sessions while in Panama, China and Quebec. The opportunity to tutor students in this setting will be greatly diminished. Teachers will have less time for synchronous instruction if funding is cut. 
Over time we get to know our students through their writing and responses in the classroom. We can access their group interaction, as well as their knowledge and skill in academics with the technological tools of multi-media classrooms, internal email, instant messaging and highly interactive lessons.  
If our students use distance education as a form of correspondence school, then they could have been doing this in the early 20th century. While it is true that we could still develop a relationship with them through their writing, it is not a reason to spend this kind of money on learning though the Internet. There is nothing new about correspondence based learning. The Cyber Charter Schools of today use technology to rapidly reach students at critical times of learning. We can catch them at thresholds of learning to ease the transition from one concept to another. We can foster a mentoring relationship with them when we celebrate milestones of accomplishment together, and can correct or redirect them when they need it. Most importantly, we can prepare them for the 21st century in a way that could have never been accomplished in the 1900’s. 
Our students are learning to reason with technological change. This is quite different from traditional education that clings to a process that is based upon rewarding compliant behavior. In a global world of change, someone needs to be testing new methods of learning that will eventually become mainstream. As other countries catch up with our standard of living, the process of preparation for the real world of work must change with it. 
Will we regret the cuts in this funding when other countries do a better job of preparing students to interact in a world where computers are the universal language? Pennsylvania will be rewarded for their leadership in connecting real world change with the skills necessary to face it. Our legislators in Pennsylvania should follow in the footsteps of our forefathers and do the right thing. Our Commonwealth has a stellar record of advocating for woman’s suffrage, homeschooling, equal rights, and family values when they were not popular. Over time our citizens will embrace the principles of educational choice and funding which follow the student instead of the system. Who is to say that this is not the next great revolution in education, and Pennsylvania is leading the way. 
For another point of view, please read this article.http://www.dailylocal.com/opinion/20150226/another-view-defending-cyber-charter-schools

Asian Invasion Exchange with PALCS

Recently our school, PA Leadership Charter School hosted 10 students and two teachers from our partner school in Hebie Province, Shijiazhuang, China. The students and teachers were here for a jammed packed week filled with unrelenting snow, activities, and plenty of warmth from our host families. I have come to the conclusion that the hosting end of the exchange is all about the host families. These videos and post are dedicated to them. After the students left to go back to China, many of the host families thanked me for talking them into providing a home for them to stay in. I do a much better job with the exchange when I keep the needs of the host families in the forefront of my priorities. :)

On Monday one of my co-teachers, Jason McLead and I picked up the students from 30th street station in Philadelphia, We met the host families in the school parking lot, and they quickly dispersed to their new homes. On Tuesday we visited West Chester University. I think the highlight of this visit was giving the students the opportunity to help teach Mandarin in a University Class. On Wednesday we escorted the students to the historic sites of Philadelphia. They visited the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Betsy Ross's House and Elfreth's Alley. We did some shopping in China Town and had dinner at Tai Lake Restaurant. On Thursday we were snowed in by a storm that dropped 15 inches in our area. The students spent the day helping to shovel snow, baking chocolate cookies, and dumplings instead of shadowing students at our school and participating in a ping pong tournament. On Friday we visited the Amish area of nearby Lancaster. We started off that day in culture classes, making valentines and art projects, and then tasted home made jams and did shopping at the outlets. On the weekend the host families included our students in their families for a variety of American experiences. On Monday we visited NYC which was a highlight of the trip. We came back to my house which is close to the airport, and woke early in the morning to catch their flight. I want to thank the following colleagues who made this week easier for me. Dr. James Hanak, Dr. Joyce Good, Scott Van Vooren, Kim Edwards, Julie Kaplan, Lynn Parris, Noele Huie, and Angela Owarzani.

If you would like learn more about either end of this exchange you can check out our BLOG site here. If you would like to be a host family next year, then please consider taking this short survey.

Here is an overview video of our week together

One of my students, Micah Byler made this video of our NYC trip.

In this Christmas season would you consider that there is a government that transcends the governments of this world? In this BLOG I write about education. In the post today I am writing about the real meaning of Christmas. I hesitate to write this post because I am very guarded about sharing my beliefs with my students. I recognize that my opinions are important to them, and my goal is not to indoctrinate, but to educate. This BLOG is about education. The values that I teach my students are an extension or my personal faith. Things like honesty, showing up on time, showing up early, being prepared, doing things the best they can be done, and kindness are all values that I have learned in living out my faith.

My role as an educator is different than my role as an advocate. When we advocate for a political position, the need to be objective can make our message too obscure, and more importantly irrelevant. Home schooling, Cyber education, and learning On-line have been a major part of our lives for the past thirty years. My children were all Homes schooled and cyber schooled, and this coming year I mark the milestone of our eighth grandchild. My children have flourished in the real world of work which should be the ultimate goal of education. They have flourished because of the values we advocate in our home. This is why I am such a parent advocate when I write in this BLOG. As a parent advocate my faith is at the core of my message. So today I want to wish you a Merry Christmas in the light of this faith.

Sometimes I get discouraged when I advocate for cyber education. I see that our government can drift from the moorings of values based in simple faith. Perhaps God will rise up judges to bring justice and righteousness to execute God's reign no matter how men choose to govern themselves, whether it is a tyrannical monarchy or a democracy. As Gideon defeated at least 140,000 Midianites with 300 men, so will God raise up future judges to execute his providence regardless of how men govern. Israel wanted a king. God gave them Saul. But, that was not the end of the story. In this season of Christmas, he made provision to disperse "merry gentleman" who are resting in the gift of Christ's birth, which will save us from the power of Satan, when we go astray. I aspire to be one of those merry gentlemen. I still worry about our government. I pray that God will rise up another judge to execute justice when I perceive oppression. In ancient times that took the form of a man. In modern times I know that God may also work his providence through circumstance, happenstance and other nation states. This brings me to my knees to pray for our nation and our leaders. It is not my desire that they would fail. I desire my grandchildren to have quiet and peaceful lives that they can live in godliness and honesty. But, if the government does fail, as it always does, I will find rest in the government we celebrate at Christmas. Dictators, presidents and their armies will not supersede a reign that will never perish from the earth.